Francis
by M1KAELA
Summary: Remember the scene down in Hagrids hut when Slughorn speaks of a fish he used to own - Francis? This is a short story about the day Lily actually gave it to him. It's a brief glimpse in the life of teenager Lily - and bits of James. -3 chapters, 3 AN-
1. Francis Chapter 1

**Storyline:**

If you haven't seen Harry Potter and the half blood prince, or isn't that much of a Harry Potter-geek, this one might not be the one for you.

Anyway, remember the scene down in Hagrids hut when Slughorn speaks of a fish he used to own - Francis? This is a short story about the day Lily actually gave it to him. It's a brief glimpse in the life of teenager Lily - and bits of James. Nothing too serious or breathtaking, but hopefully it brightens your day.

* * *

- "Lily, dear, just stay a few more minutes. It's not like he's expecting you."

- "James, I'd like for this to be a surprise, for him to figure out for himself who gave it. And that won't happen if I don't go now."

His arms tightened around her waist, making her hip press even closer against his stomach. They had just spent their first night together, and Sirius and the rest of the marauders had been nice enough to leave the dormitory early, leaving the madly in love couple behind.

- "And it's not like I'm going to be away forever, it's just an hour we're talking about."

- "Come on Lils', don't go now. I promise you that he won't get upset just because you decided to give him his Christmas present one day later then you planned. I mean, he doesn't even know you're coming."

- "It's not that I want to give it to him today, I have to. Otherwise it's all a waste."

They were still sitting on the bed, with her in his lap. James had tried to stop her from taking up her clothes from the floor, by wrapping his arms around her and forcing her to sit down.

- "But I'll miss you..."

She kissed him, and then laughed.

- "Don't be a baby, I'll be right back."

Lily knew that James hated to be called 'a baby', so she wasn't surprised when he released her.

- "I don't get why you want to give him a present. He's not a good teacher, and everything evolves around his stupid club..."

- "Is someone mad about not being a part of his club?"

- "No, all I'm saying Lils' is that I don't get why you've gone trough with all this trouble for his gift. He's not worth it!"

- "I know most people find him annoying, stuck-up and thinks it's irritating that he favors some students. And yes, I know I'm one of them. But because of that I've gotten to know him better than you guys, and deep down there's this sweet person that I like. So I think he deserves a Christmas present."

James raised one of his eyebrows, and gave away a sigh.

- "Whatever you say, love."

Lily kept silent while picking up her clothes, and she tried to not remember how they got there in the first place. Because if she did there was a small chance that she'd never leave the dormitory, and she knew that the best was not to tell James – because he would make sure that she never left.

She gave James a kiss goodbye before she ran down the stair towards the Gryffindor common room. Just as she reached the bottom she paused, trying to get as little attention as possible from the other students in the room. But the few yards that separated the boys entry and the girls was apparently enough for everyone in the room to notice her, and she turned red. It was obvious – at lest for the older students – where and how she had spent her night. Without looking anyone in the eye she ran up to her dormitory and carefully grabbed the bowl she'd left on her nightstand.

Slughorn was indeed a very unique man, and she knew that James wasn't totally unfair by questioning her gift. He did favor students, and his world was narrowed down to his own little bubble. She could see that man, the man that James and almost every other student saw. But she could, indifferent from the rest of the school, look past that and see the nice, kind man underneath.

Her very first lecture had been Potion making. She had been nervous and terrified, and scared that this was going to be the end, that they would realize that they made a terrible mistake and send her back home. With tears in her eyes she sat the entire lesson not hearing one word that came out of Slughorns mouth. Snape, who sat beside her, didn't make any effort to comfort her.

Snape.

Now, years later, she could see signs already then. Whenever his classmates was around, she didn't exist. It didn't grow during the years as she had thought, it had been there all along. From the moment the sorting hat screamed "Gryffindor!", their fates shattered apart. It just took her five years to realize.

Lily shook her head, trying to make the depressing thoughts disappear. She hadn't talked to Snape in two years and now, when she dated James, the small chance she ever had at repairing their friendship was gone.

Cautiously she walked down the stair, back to the Gryffindor common room. A group of sixth year students started whispering the moment they laid their eyes on her. She recognized all of them, but one in particular. Sarah Farraw, James ex girlfriend. Sarah, whom she never said a word to, was very open about her feeling towards her. Somehow she though Lily was playing this game, making James believe that she liked him. Her evidence was the huge fight Lily and James had in the end of their fifth year. Lily knew she said some terrible things, and she regretted some of them. But not all, because James had been a different person back then. During the last year he had matured and didn't – at least not in her presence – prank people as much.

Whilst walking towards Slughorns office, she lingered back the memory of her first lesson at Hogwarts. She hadn't realized that the bell had rung before Slughorn laid a hand upon her shoulder, which had made her twitch. And the contact with another human being made the tears roll down her cheeks. Slughorn face had turned terrified at first, but after taking a deep breath he had actually comforted her.

Since that day she had been thankful. When she had blurted out that it was impossible that she belonged there, that they must have made a mistake, he calmed her down and told her that every muggleborn felt that way. And that thought had comforted her more than anyone could have imagined. Of course the others felt the same way. Unlike the students that was born into this world, raised with the knowledge that they would leave their families and homes by age eleven, she and the other muggleborns had just had a few months to reconcile with, not just Hogwarts, but the entire wizard world.

She looked down at her wrist to make sure that she still had time, and the clock showed her ten to nine. That meant the she had ten minutes before Slughorn would return from his daily walk. The corridor outside his office was empty, so she felt no need the sneak and just opened the door. As quickly as she dared, she hurried through the room and put the bowl down on his desk. Making sure that the flower petal still floated on the surface, she mumbled a few spells before she hurried back out.

On her way towards the Great hall, where she was supposed to meet James for breakfast, she almost ran into Slughorn. He gave her a little nod, which she responded to. She was thankful for the lack of conversation – which, on the other hand, was quite normal during the mornings, Slughorn wasn't the type that rose with the sun.

- "So, how did it go?"

James sprung up beside her, and gave her a kiss.

- "Oh, very well."

- "How long will the fish live?"

- "As long as I do."

James smiled, and replied before he kissed her again:

- "That means forever, right?"

* * *

**AN:** _Yes, I do like reviews. If you had any doubts. _

_I'm not from the US or England, and English is not my native language. That means that it's very likely that grammar errors and spelling mistakes occur in this text, but I hope and pray and cross my fingers for that they don't. I have forced a few of my friends to read this through and check the language, but no one is perfect so I can't promise anything. So, if you find anything, let me know!  
_

_What I'm trying to say is that** this is my very first fanfic in English, **and I'm extremely nervous. It's so different writing in a language that doesn't come to you fluently, nerve racking I'd say. _

_That's it, for now. And don't forget to review!  
_


	2. Slughorn Chapter 2

_**AN:**_

_As I warned you, this chapter will not be a long one. And I've never written anything from Slughorns perspective before, so I guess it's not the same "depth" as in chapter one. 'Cause Lily is a character I'm very familiar with - she one of my favourites - and she sort of my better half, a person I wish to be (you know, when you've written stories about a characters so many times it feels like you know them inside and out, and you give them features you'd like to have?)_

_**Anyway, enjoy!**_

* * *

He did not like snow. He did not like winter at all. His deep passion for potions made it impossible. The ground was covered, hidden, under a giant layer of snow, and the plants that would later become his precious ingredients was out of sight. While letting his thoughts linger to the spring, that only was a few months away now, he let out a low sigh. He could see himself wandering the Forbidden forest and sneaking inside the greenhouses, looking for that special ingredient that would make his potions complete. He did not understand people whom couldn't see the fascination with potions. How could you not be hexed by it? The way you just mixed a leaf from one plant with another from this, then adding some caterpillar and voila, from nothing, you all of a sudden could have anything.

He had just finished his daily walk and passed by the Great hall when he almost ran into Lily Evans. She smiled politely at him and he did the same. He wasn't to eager to talk to people in the mornings, so he was happy when she didn't strike up a conversation. He enjoyed talking to her, she was a very clever girl, and he knew that she some day would become a great witch. But he had some doubts when she got involved with James Potter. Usually he didn't care about his students' love lives (their personal life indeed, specially their families), but he had spent a minute or two thinking about this. A few years back he had invited James to join his club – his surname was something he'd have liked to have upon the shelf. But, accompanied by Sirius Black, neither of them grabbed the opportunity he offered them. They behaved like dogs and for the first time during his career as a teacher it had felt good to give a student detention.

The corridor was empty, but he couldn't expect anything else on a Sunday morning. While not really paying attention to the world around him he entered his office, with his thoughts once again occupied with potions. He didn't notice the bowl at first, but when he reached for his glasses on the desk he did it automatically, without looking, and twitched when his hand hit the glass.

Now, more aware of the bowl on his desk, he carefully reached for the glasses, more or less hypnotized by the present. He kept his eyes on the bowl while putting the glasses on, and suddenly the flower petal on top made it obvious who had put it there.

Lily.

Still being as careful as he possible could – which wasn't hard when you're a potion teacher – he lifted up the bowl, and as soon as he had it in eye level the petal started sinking. Fascinated by the magic that took place before his eyes he didn't panic. For a brief second he had, thinking that he had disturbed the peace. But almost immediately he realized that this was meant to happen. So, anxiously and curiously, he waited.

And, as soon the petal reached the bottom, it transformed into one of the most beautiful fishes he had ever seen. With the shape of a clownfish, yet a bit bigger, it's skin had the same colour as Lily's hair. And when he inspected it more closely, he could almost swear that it had her eyes as well.

He put down the bowl on the desk and mumbled a spell to make the water level raise a bit. And before walking back to the Great hall for some breakfast, he wiped a little tear from his left eye, and sighed;

- "One day she'll do wonders."

* * *

**AN: **_Yes, I'm nervous. Again. It's like everything nice you've said about my writing has disappeared from my memory. Uh._

_**And, just to let you know, if you review as good as you did on chapter one, I'll post a chapter about the day Francis dies as well... **_

_**So please review?**_


	3. Slughorn Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3:**

When he woke up that morning, he had a vague feeling in his stomach that something was not right.

He had been surprised by this discomfort when the festivities the night before for once had brought a cheerful mood into the castle, there had been a silent agreement between students and teachers that they for one night would forget about He-who-must-not-be-named and everything else that the dark forces brought with them. Halloween was after all one of the most celebrated holidays in the wizarding world, and Slughorn felt that the students needed to forget the reality that existed outside the castle walls for a night. And as previous years the older students continued the celebration on their own in the common room, and although he overlooked the students behavior on these occasions he had been forced out of bed by one or two house-elves during the night who declared that he needed to calm his students. This meant that his usual eight-hour sleep had been disturbed and he wanted nothing more than to lie in bed for a couple of hours more, but he needed to visit the greenhouse. Timing was everything in potion making, and these plants where only to see the sunlight for five days before being harvest otherwise they would die, and Slughorn didn't want that.

He couldn't help thinking that the floor felt colder than it used to when he rose out of bed, and that the castle was calmer. This didn't help quiet the voice inside his head saying that something was terribly wrong. He shook his head and tried to tell himself that it was just the lack of sleep talking as he pulled the robe down from its place beside the bed. Then he let his feet slip into his green morning slippers and went out into his office, which was below his bedroom.

He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but something felt wrong the very minute he took the step out on the stair set and went downstairs. Slughorns eyes tried to penetrate through the darkness to see the stacks of paper on the desk and the books that were lined up on shelves along with his photographs, with their inhabitants still asleep. His eyesight was not what it used to be so he let his hand find its way into one of the robes pockets, pulled out his wand and after having it swung in the air the light in the ceiling was lit. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the sudden light, but it was not long before he could see what was wrong.

Francis was gone. The bowl stood at the same place on the desktop as it had for the last three years, untouched, but the fish that had held him company was not there. Slughorn wished for a second that he was just a tad slow, that he couldn't draw conclusions as quickly as he could in this very moment. Because he understood immediately that there was only one reason that could have made the fish disappeared, he knew that this type of spells could only be broken in one way. Cautiously he approached the desk. He picked up the bowl and hoped for someone to jump up and scream: "Got you!" and that everything would turn out to be a very bad joke. And he couldn't help that that someone he pictured was James Potter, but for some reason he knew that that was anything but possible.

With trembling hands he put down the bowl on its place, walked around the desk and sank into the chair. The office that had been his home for the last decades suddenly seemed hostile and unfamiliar, and the discomfort inside of him grew stronger. If He-who-must-not-be-named had gotten a hold of Lily, Lily who could get through anything life threw at her, what would stop him now?

Nothing.

Slughorn sighed deeply and scratched his head, he knew what he had to do. He knew things he shouldn't know, he had information that He-who-must-not-be-named probably didn't want leaking out. And Slughorn knew exactly how Death eaters prevented this from happening as well. So without any hesitation he packed up his life in a bag, pulled on comfortable clothes and then left the office, knowing he would spend his near future on the run.

* * *

Little did he know that he would return to Hogwarts fifteen years later, convinced to do so by the same pair of green eyes that once gave him Francis.

_A fire in the corner gave the hut both light and heat. Fang was lying next to Harry, whom cheerfully watched Hagrid and Slughorn whilst they were singing. When they were finished, Harry clapped his hands and Hagrid started to tell them about Aragog, his beloved spider, but was interrupted by Slughorn:_

_"Oh sweet. I once had a fish Francis, he was very dear to me. One afternoon I came downstairs and... vanished. Poff."_

_Hagrid responded with:_

_"That's very odd."_

_"Isn't it? But, that's life, I suppose. You go along and then suddenly poff."_

_Both Hagrid and Harry quietly repeated poff, before the giant tilted his head back and fell asleep. Slughorn continued:  
_

_"It was a student who gave me Francis. A spring afternoon I discovered a bowl on my desk... just a few inches of clear water in it. Floating on the surface was a flower petal... as I watched, it sank... just before it reached the bottom, it was transformed, into a fish. It was beautiful magic, wondrous to behold... The flower petal had come from a lily. Your mother. The day I came downstairs, the day the bowl was empty, was the day your mother..."_

_And he looked into those green, lovely eyes he once thought had been lost forever._

_

* * *

_

**AN:**_ It's been forever. But I hope you like it, because if I have to critic myself the other two chapters were a tad more... emotional. And just have in mind that Slughorn doesn't know that Voldemort has died as well, okay? So his reaction is only based on the knowledge of Lilys death._

But R&R people, please? :)  



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